


take off your mask

by hermitcrabcoral



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 13:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21969901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitcrabcoral/pseuds/hermitcrabcoral
Summary: She doesn't like the way he slightly flinches everytime she holds his hand, and Bede knows.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 15
Kudos: 191





	take off your mask

She doesn't like the way he slightly flinches everytime she holds his hand, and Bede knows.

There's nothing wrong with it—holding her hand, that is. She might be foward in attitude and even a little coy to him, but Gloria lets her fingers brush against his first, as if to ask,  _ is it okay?  _ and waits patiently as Bede gingerly lets their hands intertwine. 

He finds himself thanking her for this more than he intends. 

("Of course, Bede," she replies, and he avoids looking at the concerned expression on her face.) 

  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  


Bede doesn't know what's between him and Gloria—are they friends? Emotional support partners? Lovers?—but whatever it is, he finds that he's never felt better than when he's with her. 

And it seems like she feels the same. When Gloria's excited, depressed, even anxious—her hand finds its clasp on Bede's, like an anchor. 

She takes comfort in Bede, it seems. It makes Bede wonder,  _ what good does she see in me that I don't?  _

  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  


Bede's pride was the emotional barrier that secured his safety and kept others away. 

He can't remember when he began to adopt this semblance of superiority. The orphanage was always filled with power-hungry children, and if you wanted your personal space, you had to fight for it. The meek and inferior, as Bede found out, belonged nowhere in that desolate building. 

(Maybe this was where his mask of vanity came from.) 

He can't pinpoint exactly when he found himself wearing this metaphorical mask almost as much as Alister wore his physical one. Between being adopted by the chairman and working tirelessly,  _ endlessly, _ for him, only to be rejected by the one redeemer that offered him a second chance at life—

Well.

Bede certainly knows when he began losing trust in people.

  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  


Opal notes the way Bede clings to her every word like a vow and her tasks to him like a quest, and she mentally curses Rose.

She doubts she'll live long enough to find it in herself to forgive him. Opal has been mentoring Bede for months, and still she finds him adjusting to being given help instead of hits. 

_ What has this man done to this child?  _ Opal thinks, watching as Bede looks to her for approval and yet freezes at something as little as a clap of approval on his back given by his fellow gym trainers. 

  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  


Gloria, like Bede, doesn't know when—or precisely why—he put on the mask of pride as a coping mechanism, but she does know when it started chipping away.

Or more accurately, when  _ she _ started chipping it away.

She makes it a point to give a kind smile to everyone wherever she goes—a habit useful when Gloria became champion—but for Bede, she remembers offering a hand to him after each battle and always leaving an empty seat next to her while she set up camp, if he chose to hang out with her.

He ignored her at first, as she expected. It was natural—he still had the Chairman's endorsement, and simultaneously a name to live up to. 

Of course, when  _ that _ was lost, Gloria wasn't surprised to see him show up a little more often at her campsites. 

"You're too  _ nice," _ he hissed at her once. What an odd tone, genuine in manner and yet mixed with fake malice he was used to using. 

Gloria had only shrugged and gave him a grin. "Don't worry," she had said, as she stirred the curry, "It's only for you," 

Bede had only scoffed back, almost mockingly, but the look on his face—and the pink spreading on his cheeks that definitely was  _ not _ from the cold air—suggested otherwise.

  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  


He doesn't like the way her face falls slightly when he stiffens at the touch of her hand, and Gloria knows. 

"Don't give me  _ that _ look," he snaps, almost defensively, but he never draws back his hand. In fact, his fingers grip her on, almost desperately.

She adjusts her countenance. "Something wrong, Bede?" His hand is somewhat clammy, but Gloria won't let go of it. 

"I  _ know _ you don't like it when I flinch—but you look at me as if—as if it's  _ my _ fault." Their interwoven hands tremble. 

"Oh, no, it's not  _ you, _ Bede. It's more…" Gloria trails off, her face hardening again. "It reminds me of Chairman Rose, and, well, all the things he did, and how he  _ hurt _ you and—in a way,  _ all of us! _ " 

Gloria takes a moment to breathe, holding the grip between her and Bede like a lifeline. 

"Gloria—"

"No, no, you didn't deserve that,  _ none of us deserved that, _ and yet we're all still affected by  _ him."  _

Her face finally relaxes again. "That's why, Bede. It's just…you know, bad memories, right?"

"...Of course."

Bede's mouth falls still, but he visibly calms down, and lets Gloria readjust her palms against his, letting his other hand reach for Gloria's. 

They stand still, looking at each other while a silence that Bede finally saw to be comfortable fell upon them.

"Thank you," he murmurs. 

He can't remember when his mask began to fall apart, breaking down walls of comfort and revealing emotions once buried deep—

But he does know that maybe right  _ now _ , was when he finally took it off himself. 

**Author's Note:**

> gloria: what if we h*ld h*nds
> 
> a somewhat indulgent piece that i wrote today because i think these two are cute.
> 
> comments are appreciated! they make my day and inspire my later fics based on what people like about these ones. :D


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